


Learning How To Comfort

by Mountainside_possum



Category: Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Alexsandr Kallus Needs A Hug, Blood, Blood and Violence, Developing Relationship, Explosives, Hurt/Comfort, Injury Recovery, M/M, Mild Gore, Pain, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:29:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28416147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mountainside_possum/pseuds/Mountainside_possum
Summary: When Zeb is injured during the Battle of Endor, Kallus must lighten up and care for him.Requested by dinkryze on Tumblr.
Relationships: Alexsandr Kallus/Garazeb "Zeb" Orrelios
Comments: 13
Kudos: 49





	Learning How To Comfort

Zeb had truly overdone himself, that was clear by the sickening snap his arm made the second he rolled the socket. The Scout Trooper had managed to come up behind him, jabbing his vibroblade deep into the lasat’s shoulder before being gunned down by blaster fire. The wound had thrown Zeb off guard, the movement in the trees focusing his attention. There were so many different smells and sounds contained within the smoke and chaos that Endor had turned into a confusing twisting maze. It seemed like hours since the confusion pulled him away from his squad, from Alexsandr. 

The trickling sensation that feathered in his fur made it abundantly clear he was losing blood, but the ringing in his ears made that fact one of thousands within the fog of war. To his right, two soldiers tussled for a detonator, the storm trooper barely getting the upper-hand. Over the ringing, Zeb could barely make out the beeping which was coming from the rebel solider’s pack. Surging backwards, barely keeping steady, a cry left his lungs. 

“Get back!” 

As the earth tore itself apart, Zeb was flung like a ragdoll, hitting one of the massive cedar trees with a thud. Everything felt as though he were on fire, his mind only able to focus on the shapes and colors that passed in front of him. White, brown, and occasionally red came along with the screams and cries of war. It was the first time in his life where the pain became truly blinding, there was no composed thought. No true plan, no joke to crack. Just, shapes and colors. 

A voice became clearer, one of the shapes moving towards him unlike the rest. Brown, yellow, and pale white came towards Zeb. No, there was another color too. There was gold on this figure, like a halo. The figure’s lips moved, but it seemed to be speaking something Zeb couldn’t quite understand. Hands wrapped around his shoulders, pulling him into a sitting position. “Hurts…” 

“I know, I know, I’m getting you out of here.” The figure’s voice was edged with focused panic, the type that had been managed and forced into an action. The burning, aching, spread sharply across Zeb’s shoulders as he was pulled to his feet. A few pitiful whimpers left the warriors lips, his limbs feeling more like extensions to the crippling pain that had manifested in his torso. There was no part of his body that did not feel crushed, broken into a million pieces like some sort of force torture. It was so real, yet completely unbelievable. 

Zeb felt himself pulled onto some sort of moving vehicle, yet he could be damned to understand _what_ exactly was racing him through the trees. Darkness was beginning to approach him, entering his mind, till the last thing heard was that indefinable voice. 

“It’s ok, Zeb. I’m here, The _Ghost_ will be here soon.” 

The ability to focus, to think, to breath, to exist thoughtfully had left him. All he knew was darkness.

\------------------------------

When the darkness left, Zeb could only see blue. His body was floating somehow, being sustained by a sort of oily liquid. Something entered through Zeb’s mouth, which he felt unable to move. It gagged him, bringing tears to his eyes. His chest stung the worst, along with his shoulder which felt as though it were being branded. Reaching out, his hands discovered glass. Shapes, colorful shapes, moved beyond the confines of his glass prison. The liquid made it difficult to judge who, or what, was in front of him. Through the dull ringing in his ears, the voice from Endor spoke. 

“Stop fighting, you’re going to hurt yourself. Zeb, you’re safe.” The words strung together, yet the meaning was not lost. Zeb hadn’t been aware of his own thrashing until the voice spoke. For some reason he knew to trust them, that whoever that voice belonged to truly meant him no harm. 

More soft voices joined the main, yet he could not stress his ears enough to make out the conversation. Instead he observed as the figures shifted outside the glass like moving, living, paintings. 

“Ok, Zeb, you’re going to be moved now.” The voice spoke to him again, this time sounding more comforting and certain. Zeb couldn’t quite understand what they meant by ‘moved’ till he felt his restraints around his torso and waist shift upward. 

Instantly, pain erupted across his body. Had the _thing_ down his throat not been in place, he certainly would be screaming. The world came back into focus very slowly, first he saw mossy tile, then equipment. There were so many medical droids, so many worried expressions. His broken body was lowered down onto a softer surface, and the tubing finally removed from his throat. Soft hands rested against his uninjured shoulder, directing him to lay back. 

“You’re safe, We’re on Yavin.” Zeb’s eyes met Kallus and widened with recognition. The ex-agent had become somewhat close with him, yet the comfort he was being shown was beyond what he had seen Kallus ever be capable of. 

“I’m hurt bad, huh?” Zeb’s wounds slowly began to dull, whatever the medical droids had spread on the burning area upon pulling him out seemed to help turn the sharp sensations into aches. _If I’m in the bacta room, then it must’ve been bad._ His hands reached towards his wounds on his stomach, feeling the pain just underneath those carefully placed bacta patches. 

“You were almost blown apart.” It seemed that Kallus attempted to go with his sharp, scolding tone which was common whenever a _spector_ was badly injured. Yet, the look of pure worry across his face gave him away. “Had you been any closer to the explosion…” The blonde shook his head, like he was attempting to shake out the thought as a possibility. 

A groan slipped through the lasat’s lips, there was something about how truly worried Kallus seemed that made him feel like a kit. “Don’t look at me like that, I ain’t dead.” _Yet._ Zeb couldn’t shake the pain away like he usually did, there was no way to ignore this. One his external pain dulled, the most sensitive feeling came from the right side of his lower jaw. Feeling around with his tongue, an empty spot became glaringly obvious. Once of his canine teeth were gone, leaving an empty hole in its place. _Great._

Kallus seemed to register what was alarming Zeb, because he winced and lightly shrugged. “We...couldn’t find the tooth, I assume it is somewhere out in the battle field and can’t be reattached now. But, in better news, the rebellion did succeed.” There seemed to be nervousness behind Kallus’s words, as if there was something that Zeb was being protected from. 

“And…?” Zeb tilted his head, watching the human search for words. _Who died. Who am I never going to see again?_ Zeb found himself wondering. Alexsandr’s avoidance only made him more anxious. 

“Well, you were in the bacta tank for two weeks so...you missed the celebration for our efforts.” Kallus’s eyes moved down to his hands, gently playing with his fingers. 

Zeb laughed, shaking his head. “You think I’m worried about _that_ , Kal? Karabast, you scared me!” Even breathing stung, so laughing was an hardly manageable task, yet Zeb couldn’t help himself. After a second, Zeb attempted to sit up. He needed to get to work, to distract from his wounds that he desperately wanted to clean himself. “I need to get up.” 

“Don’t.” Kallus gently pushed the man back against his pillows, trying to get him to relax against the bed. “The medics said you are on bedrest until further orders.” With a soft huff, the human brushed his hair back and carefully moved to occupy the side of the bed. “I am sure the _spectors_ will come visit you soon, and you’ll wish they’d just leave you alone, but until you aren’t on the verge of reopening that stab on your shoulder and the organ deep gash in your torso I am going to _make_ you rest.” Kallus was never quite the best at providing warm comfort, often falling back into giving orders, but Zeb could see the fear in those eyes. 

“Oh, so you’re giving orders now?” Zeb jokingly smiled, wincing when his cheek tugged just enough at the hole where his tooth was missing. He’d never admit it, but Kallus just being there made him feel better. He was always running after the man and his dumb self sacrificing behavior on missions, trying to keep him alive day after day, so seeing that the human at least cared enough to be here was a relief. 

“Hm.” Kallus scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Well someone has to keep you alive.” 

The rest of that day passed smoothly, with Kallus showing Zeb pictures that had been sent to Yavin from all across the settled Galaxy. It seemed like every world was having some sort of celebration, that even the most Imperial friendly systems had wanted them gone for ages. Kallus stayed with Zeb till his eyes fell heavy, light Zeb could hear the man’s voice comforting him as he started to fall into slumber. 

“Rest, I am right here.”

Zeb could swear he felt the man’s hands brushing the fur between his ears as he began to drift asleep. It reminded him of being cleaned as a kit, a feeling that had been pushed from his memory for years. Kallus seemed to have no idea, but the feeling was better than any embrace. 

\------------------

_The grassy, rocky earth beneath Zeb’s feet kept shaking. Each explosion rattling all that he was, sending fear into his very core. Alexsandr stood across the clearing from him, a bag of explosives in hand and a blaster in the other. He was firing at a stormtrooper, one Zeb immediately recognized as holding an detonator. “Kal! Drop your bag! Run!” Zeb’s screams didn’t get far, Kallus seemingly not hearing him. The storm trooper squeezed the small metal detonator and Kallus was blown apart in front of Zeb. A cloud of earth and bright red spray coating Zeb’s fur as it tossed him back. Just as he was about to hit the tree, he screamed out._

Zeb was thrashing, attempting to back away from where Kallus’s body had blown apart in his dream. Once he saw the man enter the room, he almost fell off the bed. “Kal, Kal oh gods you’re alive.” As soon as the man was by his bedside, he pulled him into a crushing embrace. The sobs that followed were involuntary. 

“I came as fast as I could, what happened?” At first, Kallus didn’t react to the hug. His arms remained at his side, but once Zeb began to sob he carefully raised his hands to pet the fur just behind Zeb’s ears. The same spot that had helped lull the lasat back into sleep the night before. “I’m fine, we’re all safe.” 

“Y-you were on Endor, and you...you…” Zeb tripped over his words, instead just choosing to squeeze Kallus tighter. “Oh, Ashla…” His heart was threatening to beat right out of his chest, the images still so vivid in his mind. All he could do was sink further into the human’s arms. “You were dead..” 

“I’m not, I promise. See?” Kallus carefully pulled back, allowing Zeb to examine his face. 

“It was so real...It was like seein’ Lasan again.” Zeb’s ears flattened, allowing for the man to continue to pet him. The feeling felt warm, soft, not like the person he was receiving the affection from. Zeb’s emotions were on high alert, unclear and tangled together in every which way. 

The human’s breath faltered slightly at the mention of Lasan, something that Zeb’s ears could hear. After a moment, Kallus did speak. “You’re safe, we both are.” Zeb barely smiled at just how sincere Kallus sounded. “I promise, you’re safe with me.” 

“Yeah...I know, Kal.” His arms tightened around the human, just holding him close. The soft, earthy scent Kallus always had aided in calming down the lasat. Soon, he found himself smiling and barely purring. It was more of a rumble, not usually a sound they made outside of being kits. “I know.” Rubbing his cheek against Kallus’s, he waited to see what the human’s response would be. It was a clear showing of affection, on the same level of human’s kissing. 

“Do...you feel better now?” The human seemed not to pick up on the cue, instead going back to the basic questions on how Zeb was feeling. Kallus carefully pulled away, smiling lightly. “Let me see your wounds, I can clean and redress them myself so the medical droids won’t have to.” 

_Maybe he’s just not there yet,_ Zeb supposed. Pulling away the thin fabric, Zeb allowed Kallus to examine and clean out the long, grotesque wounds. The spots were bald, growing back the skin before the body would focus on the fur once again. 

Kallus carefully applied anti-bacterial to the edges of the wounds, causing Zeb to wince. 

“Sorry, does it hurt? I’m trying to be gentle.” Kallus carefully bit down on his cheek, trying to focus on not applying too much or till little of the medicine on the lasat’s newly grown skin. 

“Y’know...you can be really gentle when you want to be.” Zeb smiled, watching the human’s hand work on his chest wounds. _You aren’t a monster, Kal. Not matter how much you think you are._

“I just try to help when I can.” Kallus shrugged off the suggestion, blushing softly and using the back of his hand to brush his golden hair out of his own face. Twisting around, he grabbed a bundle of gauze and began to wrap it around Zeb’s torso. “Hopefully within a few days time you will be able to get out of here. I assume this is the longest you’ve ever sat still.” 

Zeb lightly rolled his eyes, shaking his head. “Nah, when I used to mediate with Chava we’d sit for hours.” A thin smile spread across his lips, the memories of the days when he was just a kit learning about the Ashla crossing his mind. 

“You’d mediate?” Kallus seemed surprised, raising an eyebrow as he finished the wrappings on Zeb’s torso. 

“I’m not all bite, Kal.” _Though, you wouldn’t know that._ Zeb carefully pressed a hand to the wrappings, surprised at how steady the man’s hands had been. Kallus didn’t seem to _just_ want to clean those wounds, rather he was putting in a considerable amount of loving care. “You’ve done that before.” 

“Of course I have, we are in _war_.” Alexsandr found himself shrugging, stating his response like it was purely obvious. 

“No, ya’ were so careful. You’ve cared for people before.” Zeb had tried before, attempting to gain information of Kallus’s past. The conversations were always cut short by something, usually a battle or a mission. 

With a soft huff, Kallus nodded. “My siblings, there was never money for hospital visits so it was always up to me.” Sanitizing his hands, Alexsandr carefully moved behind Zeb and began to disinfect his shoulder wound as he unwrapped the bandaging. “After years, you become careful.” 

“Well thank the Ashla.” Zeb chuckled lowly, closing his eyes and managing the winces that found their way to his lips. He still couldn’t move his shoulder blade in a full rotation, so he assumed that the damage was deep and ugly looking. _At least the bacta kept it from being infected._ “How bad does it look back there, Kal?” 

“Hm, well I can’t see your shoulder blade anymore.” He leaned around, giving Zeb a small smile. “So definitely an improvement.” Moving back around, Alexsandr started back on his careful work. Zeb’s shoulder was still in no way fit for battle, yet it was no longer such an infection risk. 

“Kal?” Zeb’s voice was soft, gentle, almost sounding unsure. 

“Yes?” Alexsandr carefully turned, looking at Zeb with a cautious glint in his eyes. “Are you ok? I am truly trying to be careful.” 

“Thank you.” _Thank you for everything._ Alexsandr continued to work on Zeb’s shoulder, humming lightly. 

“Just be more careful next time... _for me._ ” Alexsandr’s voice dipped softly into a whisper for the last two words, like they were meant to be private. 

There was shared, comfortable silence that followed. No conversation was needed, they had both said all that was needed. 

_For you, Kal, I’ll be careful._

  
  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Stay Safe, Stay Healthy, and May The Force Be With You! 
> 
> Follow Me!  
> Twitter: @imperialsimp  
> Tumblr: mountainsidepossum


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